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It is known that humans require the company of other human beings or else bad things start happening (think solitary confinement: anxiety, depression, cognitiv
by zoba 12y ago
It is known that humans require the company of other human beings or else bad things start happening (think solitary confinement: anxiety, depression, cognitive disturbances, perceptual distortions, and psychosis).
I wonder to what extent it is important to just be around other humans, versus, be around other humans who are similar to us. For the super unique, I imagine it can feel incredibly lonely. It doesn't have to be limited to intelligence, it can be cultural, linguistic, etc. The article even says "He is saying that they are a different kind of mind, a different kind of human being."
It is like humans have a built in mainstream-ification device which inherently punishes those who stand too far from the middle. What is particularly interesting is how good our tools are at connecting people with similar interests. The internet is helping isolated individuals feel like they are part of a community, good or bad.
- spb 12y agoI feel it's important to keep that "good or bad" part in mind. As humanity's drifting away from the external influences that "punish those who stand too far from the middle", we need to start internalizing some of those checks to make sure that the way we're standing far from the middle is a good thing, and not just being an asshole.
- sanoli 12y agoSince today someone said SMBC is overtaking XKCD as the comic reference king on HN(1), here's another: http://www.smbc-comics.com/index.php?id=2832#comic http://www.smbc-comics.com/index.php?id=2832#comic (1) news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8320741